Only 12 months ago, President Barack Obama said he wanted the U.N. to be welcoming Palestine as its newest member this year.

View full sizeAssociated PressPresident Barack Obama meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Friday, May 20, 2011.

By MATTHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Europe are racing to avert or delay a looming showdown over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations that may crush already dim Mideast peace prospects.

Senior U.S. and European officials, at meetings Sunday afternoon in New York, hoped to find a way of bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to stalled negotiations without antagonizing either side or embroiling the region in new turmoil.

But each is locked in intractable positions over the expected Palestinian bid this week for U.N. recognition and chances for a breakthrough seem slim. As a result, officials say the effort may be more about damage control than diplomacy.

The Palestinians are frustrated by their inability to win from Israel concessions such as a freeze on settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. They want to seize the moment to try to gain greater standing and attention with a high stakes wager on statehood and U.N. membership. The U.S. and Israel vehemently opposed this move.

Only 12 months ago, President Barack Obama said he wanted the U.N. to be welcoming Palestine as its newest member this year. But talks have broken down, and the U.S. is in the unenviable position of leading the opposition to something it actually supports.

View full size(AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas

The U.S. has promised a veto of the Palestinian bid at the Security Council, leading to fears the action could spark violence in the region.

The American side was working to secure additional opposition to recognition, officials said. Without nine affirmative votes in the 15-member Council, the Palestinian resolution would fail and Washington is hoping it won't have to act alone.

U.S. officials believe that six other members may vote against or abstain, meaning the Palestinians would fall short. That tally could not be immediately confirmed.

Heading off or watering down the Palestinian resolution had been the goal of international diplomats. They hoped to parlay that success into a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders where the two sides would relaunch negotiations.

Yet the Palestinians have refused to back down and give up the little leverage they hope to win.

"The aim of this is try to elevate the Palestinians to a more equal footing so that this disparity that existed over the last 18 years, which allowed Israel to exploit it to its advantage, can end and they can talk now to an equal member state of the United Nations," said Maen Rashid Areikat, the Palestinians' top representative to the U.S.

Areikat told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that the Palestinians could accept an alternative, but it must include "clear terms of reference to return to the negotiations, clear time frame and an endgame."

Still, even with a loss in the Security Council, the Palestinians were expected to take their case for recognition to the General Assembly, where they enjoy widespread support and the U.S. cannot block it.

A nod from the General Assembly could give the Palestinians access to international judicial bodies such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

The Israelis fear such courts would target them unfairly, which is something that Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said had been outlined by the Palestinians themselves.

They are "going to the U.N. to get this state not to make peace but to challenge Israel's legitimacy in international arenas and to try to undermine the peace process," he told CNN.

His comments reflected Israel's concern about further isolation and underscored the country's mistrust of the United Nations.

Envoys from the U.S., the European Union, the U.N. and Russia were meeting Sunday, followed by talks between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Those international negotiators have failed to persuade the Palestinians to scale down their ambitions for full U.N. membership and recognition as a state. But they were trying to craft a statement that could restart peace talks.

Such a statement would offer the Palestinians a modest upgrade in status, address Israel's demand that its identity as a Jewish state be upheld and lay out a broad timeline and parameters for renewed negotiations, officials said.

"What we will be looking for over the next few days, is a way of putting together something that allows (Palestinian) claims and legitimate aspirations for statehood to be recognized whilst actually renewing the only thing that's going to produce a state, which is a negotiation directly between the two sides," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told ABC's "This Week." He now serves as an international envoy to the Mideast.

The Palestinians have rejected proposals from Blair and seconded by U.S. envoys Dennis Ross and David Hale that would give the Palestinians the "attributes of a state," including membership in nonjudicial international organizations, without actual statehood.

"It is too late now," Abbas aide Nabil Shaath told The Associated Press. "The proposals (that) came to us ... are not good even as a starting point."

Given the stakes and entrenched positions, the best the U.S. and its allies may be able to achieve is a delay in action on the Palestinian bid.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammad Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Sirdeaner Walker emerged as a national figure against anti-bullying after her son, Carl Walker-Hoover, 11, committed suicide in 2009. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD– Thousands of people cheered as Sirdeaner L. Walker, her three children and her sister ran up the stairs of their brand new home during “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s” big reveal Sunday.

The family got to see their new home accented with blue and white trim on Sunday afternoon surrounded by friends, family and hundreds of volunteers and spectators.

“This is an amazing gift for the family and we are thankful to all of the volunteers and everyone who has helped out,” said Rock Walker, Sirdeaner Walker’s older brother.

The 100-year-old home on 124 Northampton Ave. has been in the family since the Walkers were children.

“We grew up here. We got the house in 1960 when I was just 3-years-old and we had wonderful times here, but there has also been a lot of sadness here,” said Walker who grew up in the home along with Sirdeaner and their three other siblings. “I know the new home will allow us the opportunity to create new memories.” Living in the new multi-story house will be Walker, her children Dominique, 19; Charles, 8; and Gloria, 7 and her mother Dorcas I. Walker.

Walker emerged as a national figure against anti-bullying after her son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, 11, committed suicide in his home in 2009 after being bullied by classmates, according to his mother.

Walker-Hoover killed himself on the third floor and Rock Walker said the family could not use the floor after that.

“It was very difficult for them after he died to go to that part of the house,” he said.

N. Riley Construction of Chicopee was the local builder for the project. Owner Nick Riley said he is thankful for the opportunity to bring something positive to this family.

“This was a great experience and were so happy to be a part of it,” he said. “They have been through so much and we hope this new home will help them move forward.” Riley said he worked with the show’s designers to come up with the plan for the home.

“We wanted to make it fit into the neighborhood,” he said. Many of his employees and his family worked on the home to get it ready in time for the reveal.

Volunteers from across Western Massachusetts and Connecticut participated in the build, which took exactly one week.

Sharon Marshall and her daughter Hannah Marshall, of Springfield, volunteered all week. Hannah Marshall was on the same lacrosse team as Dominique Walker when she was a student at MacDuffie last year.

“When we heard the home was going be for Sirdeaner we decided to help in any way we could,” Sharon Marshall said.

People stood for hours outside the home ready to scream “move that bus,” the signature phrase used on the show before the family sees the home.

Mirella Santiago and Amy Couture live on Dickinson Street just several blocks away from the home. They heard about the show and decided to volunteer. Both women were able to get into the home and see the final result before the family.

“It looks amazing. The house is so comfortable and now they have a ramp for the mother to get around on her wheelchair,” she said.

“This woman has done so much against bullying and she deserves this for her and her family,” Couture said.

The car was later recovered by Springfield Police.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD – An employee of FL Roberts who was depositing store receipts was robbed Sunday afternoon and his car, a large amount of money from the store and personal items were taken, Police Capt. William Collins said.

The man was in the parking lot of TD Bank on Carew Street when he was confronted by a man who threatened him with a weapon and stole the car with the money in it. The assailant did not show a weapon, but had his hand under his shirt and said he had a gun, Collins said.

The car, a 1996 Acura Integra, was later recovered.

The man was described as between 18 and 20, white, thin and with short blond hair, Collins said.

A bill before the House and Senate calls for three casinos in Massachusetts including one that would be somewhere within the four counties of Western Massachusetts.

SPRINGFIELD – Two of the three candidates for mayor, incumbent Domenic J. Sarno and challenger Jose F. Tosado, said Friday they favor casino gambling in Western Massachusetts to boost jobs and revenues, but would leave it to the will of the voters if one is proposed in Springfield.

The third candidate, School Committee member Antonette E. Pepe, said she opposes any casino proposed in Springfield. Pepe said her reasons include that city residents voted against casino gambling in 1995, and she knows of no suitable location in Springfield.

A bill before the House and Senate calls for three casinos in Massachusetts including one that would be somewhere within the four counties of Western Massachusetts.

Pepe said she is anti-casino, but does not take any stand on casinos now being proposed in Palmer and Holyoke, believing that decision is up to those communities.

Sarno said he is pro-casino, citing his reasons as including that it would bring at least a $500 million investment into the region, would generate jobs and new tax revenues.

While voters did reject a casino referendum in 1995, “the landscape has changed dramatically with the economy” since that time, Sarno said.

Tosado said he does support the legalization of casinos in Massachusetts based on the state and its communities needing a new source of revenue.

Preliminary elections are scheduled Tuesday in Springfield and Holyoke, including the three-candidate race for mayor in Springfield. The polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The casino bill, as drafted, would require that if an agreement is reached between a casino developer and the host community, the project would then need approval from voters in a binding referendum.

If casinos are proposed in Springfield, Worcester or Boston, however, the vote would be just within the ward where any casino is proposed, according to the current bill.

State Rep. Joseph Wagner, a lead sponsor of the casino gambling bill, said there is always a chance that the bill could be amended to require a citywide vote in Springfield rather than just a ward vote.

Penn National Gambling, a national gaming firm, has taken an interest in possibly locating a casino in the region, saying that Springfield and area communities are among potential locations.

Tosado said he knows there are some people with moral objections about casino gambling.

“But as long as it’s done right, I think it can work,” Tosado said.

Sarno said people “are hungry for work opportunities.”

Sarno said he wants to be at the table on any casino proposal to ensure that the impact on Springfield and the needs of Springfield are not ignored.

Pepe said she has gambled herself, but knows when to stop, and is concerned about people who become gambling addicts.

In addition, Pepe said she has concerns that it would cause serious harm to existing small businesses. The casinos cater to high end and chain restaurants and stores, not “mom and pop” businesses, she said.

Five states — Kansas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — recently passed strict photo ID laws.

Associated PressIn this Sept. 9, 2011, photo, Mellissa Brown, right, a volunteer for Organizing for America, shows Barbara Ferret, center, of Westerville, Ohio, where to sign a petition, in a ballot repeal effort by opponents of the Ohio's new elections law, in Columbus, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After years of expanding when and how people can vote, state legislatures now under new Republican control are moving to trim early voting days, beef up identification requirements and put new restrictions on how voters are notified about absentee ballots.

Democrats claim their GOP counterparts are using midterm election wins to enforce changes favorable to Republicans ahead of the 2012 presidential election. They criticize such legislation, saying it could lead to longer lines in Democratic-leaning urban areas and discourage people from voting.

Supporters say bolstering ID rules helps prevent fraud. And at a time when counties face tough budgets, they contend local elections officials don't have the money to keep early voting locations staffed and opened.

The process of changing voting rules may be nonpartisan on the surface but it is seething with politics just below the surface.

"We've had nothing short of a rhetorical firefight for years between the folks who are worried about fraud and folks who are worried about disenfranchisement — a firefight which is pretty much neatly broken down between the two major parties," said Doug Chapin, an election expert at the University of Minnesota.

While states typically adjust voting rules ahead of presidential elections, this year provides an opportunity for new Republican governors and GOP majorities to legislate on election issues.

Put simply, Chapin said: "What's happening in 2011 is just as much about what happened in 2010."

New voting rules recently cleared state legislatures in what have traditionally been presidential battlegrounds, creating partisan rancor.

Plans to reduce the number of days to cast an early ballot cleared the Republican-controlled swing states of Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin. Legislatures in Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia also lopped off advanced-voting time. North Carolina has a pending proposal. And Maine has done away with a policy that allows people to register at the polls on Election Day before casting ballots.

Each party, when in control, seeks to rewrite the rules to its electoral advantage.

Although the reality may not be so cut and dried, both parties believe a looser voting regimen benefits Democrats because it increases opportunities for Hispanic, black, immigrant and poor people — harder to reach for an Election Day turnout — to vote.

Democratic voters held an edge in early voting during the 2010 elections, despite the unfavorable climate for the party nationally and the eventual Republican gains.

Voters in 32 states and the District of Columbia can cast a ballot in person before Election Day without having to give a reason.

Georgia and Ohio had some of the longest early voting time periods. Georgia had 45 days, while Ohio had 35. The new laws bring the two states closer to the typical timeframe, which is about two weeks before the election.

The move to shrink the early voting window in some states comes as others have pushed to require voters to show a photo ID at the polls.

Five states — Kansas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — recently passed strict photo ID laws. At the beginning of the year, just two states — Georgia and Indiana — required that voters must show a photo ID in order to have their vote counted.

Other legislatures are rewriting their state's election laws in other ways.

Florida rolled back its early voting time to one week from two in an overhaul that also makes it more difficult for groups such as the League of Women Voters and the Boy Scouts of America to conduct voter registration drives.

Ohio's top elections chief, a Republican, acknowledged that changes to voting rules have invited an overreaction from each party.

"Both sides of the political spectrum have found it advantageous from a fundraising point of view, from a motivating their base point of view, to call into question the confidence in the election system," Secretary of State Jon Husted said in an interview.

While Ohio's overhaul bans local boards of elections from mailing unsolicited absentee ballot requests to voters, Husted has agreed to have the state send the requests to voters in all counties in 2012.

Ohio's law is not yet in effect, and opponents are working to get a proposed repeal question on the fall 2012 ballot. The legislation ignited debate early this summer on the floors of the state's GOP-controlled General Assembly.

Police said the groom's brother was charged with driving while intoxicated.

DOVER PLAINS, N.Y. — State police say a groom died in a New York accident just hours after his wedding.

According to the Journal News, Nicholas Hoag of Wingdale died late Saturday night in Dover Plains, N.Y.

He was a passenger on a utility terrain vehicle that struck a tree and overturned, pinning him underneath.

Police said his brother was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Hoag and Amber Sartori had married earlier that day at the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Sherman, Conn.

The bride is a nurse at the Putnam Valley Hospital Center.

Her father, Michael Sartori of Wingdale, calls the tragedy a "living nightmare."

The groom's brother was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The paper says a call placed to their parents was not answered.

Blankenship is slated to be sentenced on Dec. 1 U.S. District Court in Shreveport, Louisiana.

AP photoAttorney General Eric Holder listens at left as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speaks at the Justice in Washington, Aug. 3, 2011, to discuss the results of the largest U.S. prosecution of an international criminal network organized to sexually exploit children. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A Western Massachusetts man, among 72 suspects charged with participating in an international online child pornography ring, has pleaded guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise.

Rush Frank Blankenship, 26, among those arrested by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, pleaded guilty to that charge on Sept. 1, in U.S. District Court in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Louisiana.

Although a press release issued last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs officials gave Blankenship’s hometown as Westfield, he had since moved to Monson, according to public records.

Blankenship is slated to be sentenced on Dec. 1 at 10 a.m., according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Prosecutors say those charged used an online bulletin board called “Dreamboard“ to trade violent sexual images.

U.S. attorney general Eric Holder and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Aug. 3 that a 20-month law enforcement effort, called Operation Delego, targeted more than 600 Dreamboard members around the world for allegedly participating in the private, members-only Internet club created to promote pedophilia.

Numerous participants in the network sexually abused children ages 12 and under, produced images and video of the abuse and then shared it with other club members, according to court papers released in the case.

To conceal their conduct, members used screen names rather than actual names and accessed the bulletin board via proxy servers, with Internet traffic routed through other computers to disguise a user’s location, according to the court papers.

Participants were required to continually upload images of child sexual abuse to maintain their membership.

Blankenship was one of 21 suspects listed in federal indictments filed on June 15 in Shreveport, La.

According to the indictment, Blankenship published three separate advertisements in April and May 2010 on Dreamboard in which he offered to distribute files containing child pornography. Blankenship allegedly used the online alias “14yrsmax.” and posted video and image files to the site labeled “Girl with Dog,“ “Nice small sets” and “Candle.”

Those who have been sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy so far have received prison sentences ranging from 22 to 30 years. Each has also received a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison as part of their sentence.

The president's proposal counts savings of $1 trillion over 10 years from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blunt rejoinder to congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama called for $1.5 trillion in new taxes Monday, part of a total 10-year deficit reduction package totaling more than $3 trillion. He vowed to veto any deficit reduction package that cuts benefits to Medicare recipients but does not raise taxes on the wealthy and big corporations.

"We can't just cut our way out of this hole," the president said.

The president's proposal would predominantly hit upper income taxpayers but would also reduce spending in mandatory benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, by $580 billion. It also counts savings of $1 trillion over 10 years from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The deficit reduction plan represents an economic bookend to the $447 billion in tax cuts and new public works spending that Obama has proposed as a short-term measure to stimulate the economy and create jobs. And it gives the president a voice in a process that will be dominated by a joint congressional committee charged with recommending deficit reductions of up to $1.5 trillion.

His plan served as a sharp counterpoint to Republican lawmakers, who have insisted that tax increases should play no part in taming the nation's escalating national debt. Obama's plan would end Bush-era tax cuts for top earners and would limit their deductions.

"It's only right we ask everyone to pay their fair share," Obama said from the Rose Garden at the White House.

In issuing his threat to veto any Medicare benefits that aren't paired with tax increases on upper-income people, Obama said: "I will not support any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary Americans."

Responding to a complaint from Republicans about his proposed tax on the wealthy, Obama added: "This is not class warfare. It's math."

The Republican reaction was swift and derisive.

"Veto threats, a massive tax hike, phantom savings, and punting on entitlement reform is not a recipe for economic or job growth_or even meaningful deficit reduction," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement issued minutes after the president's announcement. "The good news is that the Joint Committee is taking this issue far more seriously than the White House."

Obama's proposal comes amid Democratic demands that Obama take a tougher stance against Republicans. And while the plan stands little chance of passing Congress, its populist pitch is one that the White House believes the public can support.

The core of the president's plan totals just over $2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. It would let Bush-era tax cuts for upper income earners expire, limit deductions for wealthier filers and close loopholes and end some corporate tax breaks. It also would cut $580 billion from mandatory programs, including $248 billion from Medicare. It also targets subsidies to farmers and benefits programs for federal employees.

Officials cast Obama's plan as his vision for deficit reduction, and distinguished it from the negotiations he had with House Speaker John Boehner in July as Obama sought to avoid a government default.

As a result, Obama's proposal includes no changes in Social Security and no increase in the Medicare eligibility age, which the president had been willing to accept this summer.

Administration officials also said that Obama's $1.5 trillion in new taxes is a goal that Congress could achieve through a broad overhaul of the tax code. They said the president's specific proposals represent one way to get to that goal under the existing tax code.

Coupled with about $1 trillion in cuts already approved by Congress and signed by the president, overall deficit reduction would total more than $4 trillion, a number many economists cite as a minimum threshold to bring the nation's debt under control.

Key features of Obama's plan:

—$1.5 trillion in new revenue, which would include about $800 billion realized over 10 years from repealing the Bush-era tax rates for couples making more than $250,000. It also would place limits on deductions for wealthy filers and end certain corporate loopholes and subsidies for oil and gas companies.

—$580 billion in cuts in mandatory benefit programs, including $248 billion in Medicare and $72 billion in Medicaid and other health programs. Other mandatory benefit programs include farm subsidies and federal employee benefits. Administration officials said 90 percent of the $248 billion in 10-year Medicare cuts would be squeezed from service providers. The plan does shift some additional costs to beneficiaries, but those changes would not start until 2017.

—$430 billion in savings from lower interest payment on the national debt.

— $1 trillion in savings from drawing down military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republicans have ridiculed the war savings as gimmicky, but House Republicans included them in their budget proposal this year and Boehner had agreed to count them as savings during debt ceiling negotiations with the president this summer.

Illustrating Obama's populist pitch on tax revenue, he suggested that Congress establish a minimum tax on taxpayers making $1 million or more in income. The measure — the White House calls it the "Buffett Rule" for billionaire investor Warren Buffett — is designed to prevent millionaires from taking advantage of lower tax rates on investment earnings than what middle-income taxpayers pay on their wages.

That minimum rate, however, is not included in the White House revenue projections. Officials said it was a suggestion for Congress if it were to undertake an overhaul of the tax code.

.At issue is the difference between a taxpayer's tax bracket and the effective tax rate that taxpayer pays. Millionaires face a 35 percent tax bracket, while middle income filers fall in the 15 or 25 percent bracket. But investment income is taxed at 15 percent and Buffett has complained that he and other wealthy people have been "coddled long enough" and shouldn't be paying a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than middle-class taxpayers.

Charges against Colon include possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – A street stop by police at Sargeant and Pine streets Sunday night yielded the arrest of a 35-year-old homeless man and the confiscation of cocaine and a loaded handgun.

Police arrested Gabriel Colon, who is homeless according to police documents, shortly before 6 p.m.

Colon was charged possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, possession of a loaded firearm, firearm use in felony, possession of a firearm with mutilated ID in felony, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and violation of a drug-free zone (MacKenzie Field.

Additional information was not immediately available.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Dolores H. Schmeck

LONGMEADOW - Dolores H. Schmeck passed away Friday following a stroke. Born in Holyoke, she was the daughter of the late John and Nellie Hojnowski. After her marriage, she and her husband George lived in Springfield, Wayland and Longmeadow, where she was a resident for nearly 30 years. An accountant by training, she held positions with various accounting firms and businesses. She was the first female president of the Rotary Club of East Longmeadow and was named a Paul Harris Fellow because of her commitment to service. An avid golfer, she was president of the Franconia Golf Course ladies golf association. She was involved in many charitable works including Open Pantry Community Services in Springfield, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield, area shelters for the homeless, and her beloved Christ Church Cathedral.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Cox, Everett Dale
  




• 
  Fedora, Kathleen M. (Hussey)
  



• 
  Klinkowski, Frances C. (Lis)




• 
  Klosek-Wright, A.J. Michael
  



• 
  Kobjack, John
  




• Longhi, Mae L. (Harpin)
  




• 
  Muscolo, Josephine A.
  



• 
  Popielarczyk, Frank




• 
  Rooney, William F.
  



• 
  Schmeck, Dolores H.
  




• Zanetti, Mary
  

Two of the victims were reportedly stabbed and all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – The Amherst Police Department's patch.

AMHERST - Three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, including two for possible stab wounds, following disturbances early Sunday at a large party on College Street.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette has reported that officers responded to 167 College St. after receiving a call, shortly before 2:30 a.m., from a woman who said she was bringing two University of Massachusetts students to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton for injuries suffered at the party.

When police arrived at the address, a student rental near the Hills parking lot on the Amherst College campus, they saw as many as 200 people still gathered there, detective Sgt. David Knightly told the Gazette.

Police found a man at the scene, reportedly with cuts to his head, who was being taken by Amherst Fire Department ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, according to the Gazette.

The hearing begins Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD – City officials will appear in Housing Court Tuesday to ask the court to enforce the city’s vacate order regarding the tenants of the condemned River Inn on State Street.

Lisa C. deSousa, an associate city solicitor, said the city will also ask the court to order the owner to not allow anyone else to take occupancy, to secure the building, keep it clean and present either rehabilitation or demolition plans for the property.

The building, which started out as a TravelLodge motel in the 1960s, either has to “be brought up to code or down to the ground. Those are our only two choices,” deSousa said.

Fifty-three summons packets have been served to the building’s occupants asking them to be present at the hearing which begins at 9:30 a.m., deSousa said.

“That’s everybody that we have names for,” deSousa said of the 53 summons packets.

The building has such significant fire code and electrical code and other violations that city is looking to have its power shut down as soon as possible, deSousa said.

“We have got to make sure that everybody is out of there,” she said. “ This is just an absolute disaster.”

The owner of the property has also been cited for sanitary code and state building code violations. “One of the roofs is failing,” deSousa said.

Residents said Thursday that one of their biggest complaints about the building is bed bugs. ““I have nightmares at night that these things are going to devour me,” said David Jerome Jenson who said he has lived there for about 8 months.

Occupants with children have been referred to the state Department of Transitional Assistance and those without have been referred to the Catholic Charities for assistance, deSousa said.

Geraldine McCafferty, director of the Office of Housing for the city, said Thursday she believed all of the families with children have since moved out and are into alternative housing

DeSousa said Monday she has received a report that few of the other tenants had yet to be relocated.

In addition to the squalor, crime has been an issue here. Most recently, a man was attacked with a machete at the River Inn after he came to the aid of a woman being groped by the knife-wielding man.

City records show the property has changed hands at least 9 times since 1984. The most recent transaction came in April 2011, when Gouri Corp. – owned by Belchertown resident Hemant Kumar Patel – sold the property to Geo Real Estate for $905,000. Ahmed Aziz, of 44 Thompson St. in East Longmeadow, is listed as manager of Geo Real Estate in filings with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office.

The DVD-by-mail service got Netflix into homes, but it's expensive to mail DVDs and the potential for growth is limited.

AP Photo/Netflix Inc.This screen shot shows Qwikster.com, a new website service available soon from Netflix. Netflix Inc. plans to separate its DVD-by-mail service and streaming video businesses. CEO Reed Hastings said on Sunday in a blog posting that the DVD service will be called Qwikster while the streaming business will be housed under the Netflix name.

Here are basic questions and answers about Netflix Inc.'s decision to split off its DVD-by-mail service and rename it "Qwikster."

Q: Why is Netflix doing this?

A: The company sees the streaming service as its future, and what it wants to focus on. The DVD-by-mail service got Netflix into homes, but it's expensive to mail DVDs and the potential for growth is limited. In homes, the streaming service is making the jump from PCs to the living-room TV thanks to game consoles, DVD players and TVs that come with the ability to connect to the Internet.

Q: Will I have to go to two websites to manage my DVD queue and watch streaming videos?

A: Yes, there will be two separate sites —one at Netflix.com, and another at Qwikster.com, which will go live within the next few weeks.

Q: Will Qwikster know my preferences based on how I've rated movies on Netflix, and vice versa?

A: No, the company says reviews and ratings made on one site won't show up on the other.

Q: Do I pay for the services separately?

A: Yes, there will be two entries on your credit card statements if you subscribe to both. You'll also need to keep your payment information current on both sites.

Q: Will I need to sign up for the services separately?

A: If you current get DVDs by mail, Netflix will set you up with a Qwikster account by default.

Q: When do the changes go into effect?

They started taking effect this month for current subscribers, and everyone will be switched over by the end of the month. New customers started choosing from the new plans in July. Netflix says the change to the "Qwikster" brand will happen in the next few weeks.

Q: Will the two services cost more than before?

A: Yes, Netflix announced earlier this summer that it will be charging separately for the streaming and DVD options. The streaming will cost $8 per month, and the DVDs by mail will start at $8 for one DVD out at a time.

The family was instructed not to reveal specific details of the home's interior, pending the show being broadcast.

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanSirdeaner Walker holds a certificate of occupancy while standing in front of her new Northampton Avenue home Monday.

SPRINGFIELD – Some secrets have to be kept, for now, but there was no secret regarding how happy Sirdearner L. Walker and her children are about their new home on Northampton Avenue.

The family was preparing to move into their new home on Monday, which was built by volunteers during the past week in conjunction with ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” television show.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Walker said, during an interview in front of her home on Monday. “A lot of love went into building this home. “It’s incredible.”

The family was instructed by Extreme Makeover officials to not reveal specific details of the home interior, pending the show being broadcast.

Walker emerged as a national figure in the fight against school bullying after her son Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, 11, distraught over bullying, committed suicide in 2009.

“I really feel like Carl is with us, spiritually,” Sirdearner Walker said. “I think he would be jumping up and down. He would be so happy for us.”

Nick Riley, owner of N. Riley Construction of Chicopee, the local builder for the project, joined with the family at the press conference and said it was special to help make the family’s dream come true.

The show is expected to be broadcast in late October or early November.

The family also was treated to a vacation in Hollywood while their house was built.

More details coming in The Republican.

“I was hoping this day would come, and I’m thrilled that it has. We’ve worked hard to get to this point.”

The RepublicanSouth Hadley is planning to replace its current, over-crowded little library on Bardwell Street, shown here.

SOUTH HADLEY – PeoplesBank has made a major donation of $200,000 toward a new building for the South Hadley Public Library.

Dr. Mitchell Resnick, head of the trustees of the library, made the announcement at an open house reception at the current library Wednesday.

“We’re happy to be part of the future of the South Hadley Public Library,” said Jacqueline Charron, a vice president of PeoplesBank, who attended the event with three colleagues.

“It’s a way to preserve the health of the community and a means to ensure future vitality,” said Charron, noting that 26 employees of PeoplesBank live in South Hadley, including the CEO.

The Library Building Committee plans to erect its new building in the Falls section of town, where the Northeast Utilities Building used to stand near the Connecticut River.

The town purchased the site last year to fulfill part of the arduous task of applying for a grant from the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program.

The efforts of supporters were rewarded when the program came through with a grant of $4,841,312 in July, awarded on the condition that the town raise the rest of the needed funds by January 31, 2012.

The donation from PeoplesBank gives another major boost to the project.

“Everybody who has anything to do with the library has been talking for years about building a new one,” said Carole Sullivan, vice president of Friends of the South Hadley Public Library, who seemed dazzled at how much has happened in the past year.

“I was hoping this day would come, and I’m thrilled that it has,” said Resnick, described by himself and others as having a passion for the project. “We’ve worked hard to get to this point.”

While guests surveyed architectural drawings of the proposed building, library director Joseph Rodio gave a tour of the current library, built in 1906 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie, to show why the town needs a new one.

Pointing to shelves that held volumes of Civil War records, Rodio explained that mold had seeped through the brick exterior and into the wooden shelves.

“We discovered that the books were supposed to act as insulation,” said Rodio. “When we moved them, we found a lot of white mold.” (Fortunately, the books can be saved.)

The main part of the library is filled to capacity, said Rodio. “Every year, as we order new books, we have to pull out a large number of others. You lose a real depth to the collection that way.”

Books that have not been checked out in three years are on a “hit list,” he said.

Here are some of the coming events related to the new library.

On Oct. 9, there will be a free fall festival to celebrate the library at Canal and Main Streets, site of the future library. Family-oriented activities will include food vendors, a balloon man, and music by Cottonwood.

Also, plans are under way for a November wine-tasting fundraiser, with a passing mention of chocolate. For more information, call (413) 538-5045.

The current cost is four cents above the national average and still more than a dollar more than at the same time last year.

File photo / Associated PressA customer pumps gas into his car.

BOSTON – Massachusetts gas prices have dropped three cents in the past week following two straight weeks of increases.

The American Automobile Association of Southern New England reported Monday that self-serve, regular dropped to an average of $3.62 per gallon.

The current cost is four cents above the national average and still more than a dollar more than at the same time last year.

AAA found self-serve, regular as low as $3.43 per gallon and as high as $3.85.

The firm will be paid between $500,000 and $700,000 to draft the master plan by the end of the year.

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanBobbie Hill of Concordia, LLC, speaks to reporters after it was announced her firm had been named the lead consultant developing a master plan for tornado impacted areas in Springfield. Hill will be working with DevelopSpringfield. Gerald W. Hayes, of Develop Springfield and Westfield State University. is seen at right.

SPRINGFIELD – A consulting firm that played key role in rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has been selected to develop a blueprint for tornado recovery in Springfield.

Concordia, LLC, a New Orleans-based firm with experience in disaster-relief efforts in Haiti, Japan as well as the United States, was hired to develop a tornado recover master plan DevelopSpringfield Inc., a non-profit group leading the local recovery effort.

“We are thrilled to have a team of this caliber on board,” Nicholas A. Fyntrilakis, chairman of DevelopSpringield, said while introducing the consulting firm at a new conference Monday.

The consultants plan to hold meetings in neighborhoods damaged by the June 1 tornadoes, along with citywide hearings to assess long-term rebuilding needs, said Bobbie Hill, a principal in the 28-year old firm that helped coordinate New Orleans’ reconstruction following the 2005 hurricane.

The firm will be paid between $500,000 and $700,000 to draft the master plan by the end of the year; part of that amount will be used to hire specialists from other disaster-recovery firms to help Concordia, Hill said.

“It will be a very collaborative effort,” Hill said.

Funding for the contract will come from federal and state disaster assistance to the city.

Hill said she was impressed with the energy and teamwork involved in Springfield the disaster recovery effort. “We’re not starting from scratch here,” she said.

DevelopSpringfield selected Concordia after reviewing applications from six disaster-relief consulting firms; the agency’s board voted Monday to hire the firm, Fyntrilakis said.

Both Fyntrilakis and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the timing of the announcement – one day before the mayoral primary – was a coincidence, and not designed to boost Sarno’s reelection chances.

More than 600 structures in Springfield, including 477 single-family homes and 81 multi-family buildings, were damaged by the tornadoes, which carved a 39-mile path from Westfield to Charlton.

In Springfield, winds up to 160 mph caused damage from the Connecticut River to the Wilbraham town line, affecting an estimated 40 percent of the city’s population in the first 48 hours, officials said.

Three deaths were attributed to the storm: two in West Springfield and one in Brimfield.

No dates or locations have been established for the neighborhood meetings, but Hill said her firm will providing more information soon.

“We start today,” she said.

Weston was killed and a 53-year-old passenger injured in the head-on collision that occurred at about 6 p.m. on Route 116 about a quarter-mile from the Amherst line.

SUNDERLAND - Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan announced Monday that Matthew Kostanski, 23, of Greenfield, has been issued a citation for negligent vehicle homicide in connection with the Sept. 11 collision on Route 116 in Sunderland that killed 18-year-old Hatfield resident Emily Weston.

A statement issued by Sullivan's communications director Mary Carey said Kostanski will be summonsed to appear in Greenfield District Court for arraignment on the charge. No date for the arraignment has set, she said.

Weston was killed and a 53-year-old passenger injured in the head-on collision that occurred at about 6 p.m. on a stretch of road about a quarter-mile from the Amherst line.

Kostanski suffered minor injuries in the crash.

"Witness statements and physical evidence from the roadway show that Mr. Kostanski's southbound vehicle crossed over into the northbound lane of travel where it collided with Ms. Weston's vehicle," Carey said.

Police reported previously that Weston pulled her car off to the right side of the road in an attempt to avoid contact when Kostanski's car crossed into her lane.

The Massachusetts State Police are continuing to investigate circumstances that led to the accident, she said.

Carey did not indicate if police know why Kostanski crossed into the oncoming lane, but she did say that investigators have found no indication that drugs or alcohol contributed to the crash.

“You got me,” Patrick told reporters, after explaining that he noticed a television camera waiting outside his house Monday morning as he left for work.

BOSTON - Gov. Deval L. Patrick admitted Monday that he got caught red-handed driving to work from his Milton home on the first day of car-free week, telling reporters he hoped residents would not follow his lead.

“You got me,” Patrick told reporters, after explaining that he noticed a television camera waiting outside his house Monday morning as he left for work. “I carpooled this morning with my trooper. We both had to come together,” the governor said.

While Massachusetts transportation officials are promoting car-free week as an opportunity to “promote the environmental, financial, community and health benefits of using public transportation, carpooling, bicycling, walking and teleworking,” Patrick said his “strange” schedule this week required him to be in Lowell and central and Western Massachusetts for a number of public events.

The MBTA's Red Line is within walking distance of Patrick’s Milton home, and the governor said he'd “do my best” to join residents this week commuting on public transportation.

“It’s a great initiative for the people who can make the most of it. I hope they will and I hope in the course of the week to make the most of it too,” Patrick said.

When pressed by a reporter about whether he should expect people to take part in Car-Free Week if he wasn’t, Patrick said, “I got the gotcha question, believe me, and I’m going to do my best.”

Massachusetts joins over 1,000 cities in 40 countries around the world in celebrating World Car-Free Day on Sept. 22 with a week-long advocacy campaign.

She and her husband, C.J., are expecting their third child.

Jennifer Nassour

BOSTON - Expecting her third child early next year, Republican State Party Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour announced on Monday that she would be stepping down in October as head of the party as the GOP gears up for the 2012 elections.

“I do not make this decision lightly or without a great deal of thought. I believe for the good of my family and the Party, this is absolutely the right decision,” Nassour said in a statement, describing herself and her husband C.J. as “thrilled beyond words” at the prospect of adding to their family.

The couple already has two daughters.

Nassour said she planned to formally resign on Oct. 28. Under her leadership, the party made big gains in the Massachusetts House last year, but fell flat in Congressional races and was swept in statewide contests, including the race for governor.

In her letter, Nassour said the party next year would need a chairman able to commit to "long hours" on fundraising and campaigning. The race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Scott P. Brown tops the ballot next year, which will also feature races for Congress and state House and Senate, with candidates expected to run in districts that will be redrawn this fall.